Refrigerating apparatus



April 7, 1925. 1,532,824

(5. F. KNOX REFRIGERATINGAPPARATUS Filed March 27; 1922 2 Sheetu5heot l i l l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

April 7, 1925.

G. F. KNOX REFRIG-ERATING APPARATUS Filed March 27, 1922 2 Shani-Shoot 2 ATTURN Y5.

Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

'NITED s'mrss GEORGE F. KNOIT, .OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

' BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

Application filed march 27, 1922. Serial in. 547,071.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. Knox, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of hiilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin,have invented new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Apparatus, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more especially to a small and compact apparatus of this character which is particularly adapted for, household use an has for one if its objects to provide such an apparatus as will be simple'in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and more efiicient than those which have been heretofore pro-posed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a relatively small and compact device in which the ammonia gas or other refrigerating fluid may be subjected to the action of cooling water, to extract the heat therefrom and to thereby liquefy the same, whereupon the liquid may be conducted to a refrigerating enclosure where it is caused to absorb heat again, whereby it is again changed to its gaseous form.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described, which includes a means for compressing the aseous refrigerating agent in order to faci itate its conversion into the liquid state.

A still further object of the invention is to improve the construction of the said compressing mechanism whereby it will effectively serve its purpose with the expenditure of a minimum amount of energy.

With these and other objects in view, which will, appear as the description proceeds, details of construction and combinations. of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views;

Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention.

' Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section of the parts shown in Fig. 1, as seen from the left of the said figure; and

the invention consists in the novel Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the compressing cylin- 1 der approximately on its center line, at right angles to Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5, indicates a base which may take the form of an annular casting, provided with a plurality of lugs 6, to which is secured the bottom plate 7 of the casing 8, constituting the main condensing chamber. The said casing is preferably cylindrical in form and encloses a coil of pipe 9 having the inlet 10 and the outlet 11, connecting to any suitable supply and discharge pipes, not shown.

The said coil 9 is preferably located in the upper portion of the chamber 12, formed by the Walls of the said casing 8 and the inlet and. outlet pipes, 10 and 11, extend downwardly and pass through the bottom plate or member 7 as will be clear from Fig. 1. A pipe 13 is secured in the center of the upper end 14 of the casing 8 and extends downwardly within the coil 9to a point approximately one-half of the vertical height of the chamber 12.

The said pipe, 13, is in communication with a. pipe 15, which is rigidly secured to the end 14 of the casing 8 in any suitable manner as bythe look nut 16, and the said pipe 15' is adapted to supply liquid ammonia or other suitable refrigerating fluid from. a source of supply, not shown. The flow of the liquid throughthe said pipe 15 may be controlled by a suitable valve or valves located between the said source of supply and the condensing chamber 12, which valves are likewise not shown.

These said pipes 13 and 15 are employed only to initially charge the apparatus with refrigerating fluid and to make up from time to time any deficiency which may occur in the amount of the fluid contained in the system, due to leakage therefrom. Under the usual operating conditions the refrigerating circuit is closed so that the ammonia or other refrigerating agent is used over and over again.

Rigidly secured to the casing 8 is the cornpressmg mechanism 20. The said compressing mechanism comprises a cylinder block 21 having a cylinder 22 bored therein which cylinder is preferably open at both ends. The said block 21 may be supported within the integral extension 23 of the casing 8 and it maybe retained in position bymeans of the retaining member 24 controlled by the I means of the lo engaging t removable cap 27, which cured to W said. extension readily appa nt from Fig. l.

The upper portion ot the cylinderblock 21 immediately surrounding the cylinder bore 22 is machined to constitute a valve seat upon which is adapted to [it a disk 28 which acts as a combined cylinder head and haust valve as will presently appear. The said valve disk 28 is normally held in con tact with the valve seat formed upon. he said cylinder block 21, by means of a able spring or other resilient memb The retaining member is provic l the downwardly depending annular i 31, which engages the upper surface of the cylinder block 21 to hold it in position and the said flange 31, in conjunction with the body portion of the member 24, and the said upper surface of the cylinder block 21, constitutes a chamber 32, which is adapted to receive the compressed fluid from the compressor cylinder 22 as will be more fully disclosed below. As is best shown in Figure 3 this said chamber 32 communicates by means of a passage 33 with an outlet pipe 34:, leading through an expansion valve 35 to a pipe 36 which leads into the upper portion of the condensing chamber 12 as will be clear from Fi ures 1 and 2.

glidably mounted within the cylinder 22 is a piston 40 provided with a valve 41 in its head and connected by means of the wrist pin 42 to the piston rod 43. The lower portion' of the cylinder block 20 is provided with a downward extension 44c, through which the said piston rod passes and the said extension is oounterbored to receive two series of packing rings 45 and 46, which are preferably separated by means of a coiled spring l'r', see Fig. 1. A nut 48 is securedtothe said extension 44 and serves to support a glass or other tube 49', adapted to receive and hold lubricating oil. 50, which may pass through the duct 51 to the piston rod,

43, and thereby lubricate the same. Mixing of the said lubricating oil with the ammonia or other refrigerating fluid will be prevented by means of the packings 45 and 46 as will be readily apparent, The said packings may be retained in position with in-the counterbore surrounding the piston rod by means of the retaining nut, 52, or in any other desired manner.

The lower end of the piston rod 43 is rigidly connected to slide member 54, which is adapted to reciprocate in the guide ways, 55, rigid with the lower portion of the casing 8 and the said slide carries a wrist pin 56, by means of which it is pivotally connccted to one end of a connecting rod 57, the other end of which engages the crank portion, 58, of a crank shaft 59. The said it is suitably iournalled bearl by the XtMSlOll, 60, of the 1741 e said shaft carries a flywheel which is adapted to dri l 11 'leJtric motor or other source of i v" mounted upon the bracket (33, and rigi i with the casing, 3, by means belt,

chain or other drive, or, The said of the casing 8 is preferably hollow as shown, constituting a crank casing, and it may be fillel to a suitable level with lubrioil through the oil inlet, 65, whereby the crank and its associating parts may be c:.=nstantly supplied with lubricant.

The cylinder block, 21, is provided with a reduced portion 66, which co-acts with the walls of the extension, 23 to form an annular chamber, 67, which communicates by means of the ducts or passages, 68, with the upper portion of the cylinder bore, 22, and by means of the ducts or passages, 39, with the chamber, 70, formed within the lower portion of the cylinder block, 21, beneath the piston 40.

A pipe, 71, leads from the lower portion of the casing, 8, to an suitable refrigerator, not shown, and the pipe, '72, leads from the said refrigerator through a strainer, 73, to the annular chamber, 67, whereby the refrigerating fluid may be conducted from the lower portion of the chamber, 12, to the refrigerator and from the latter back to the compressing apparatus. A gauge 74, may be attached at a suitable point to the casing, 8, in order that the pressure within the system may be known at all times.

The operation of the device will be clear from the foregoing, but it may be briefly summarized as follows:

The air in-the system is first partially exhausted, by any suitable means (not shown)- after which liquid ammonia or other suitable refrigerating fluid, is introduced in the chamber, 12, through the pipes 15 and 13 from the source of supply, until the said chamber is approximately one-half filled. ()wing to the fact that the said pipe, 13, extends down into the said chamber 12, for substantially'one-half of its vertical height,

it will be impossible to fill the said chamber l up above the lower end of the said pipe, 13, since as soon as the liquid level reaches the said lower end, the air which remains in the system will be tra ped within the upper portion of the chamber and its pressure will soon revent the further introduction oi liquid t erein, This construction, therefore, provides anautomatic control which w ll prevent the introduction of too much refrigerating fluid into the apparatus.

Cold water is now introduced from the supply pipe not shown, into the inlet pipe, 10, and passes upwardly therethrough and through the coil 9 and then down through the outlet pipe, 11, to the discharge pipe,

lUU

4 iassaeaa not shown. The liquid refrigerating agent, which is contained in the lower portion of the chamber, 12, will flow through the pipe 71 to the refrigerator, not shown, where it will absorb heat from the refrigerating chamber and its contents and thereby be converted into gas.

This said gas will leave the coil within the refrigerating chamber, through the pipe, 72, and wiii pass therethrough to the strainer,

73, where any impurities will be extracted therefrom. The filtered gas will pass from the said strainer, through the said pipe, 72, into the annular chamber, 67, surrounding the c linder block, 21, and from the said cham er it will pass through the ducts 68 and 69 to both sides of the piston, 40, thus filling the cylinder 22.

The motor, 62, being in operation, power therefrom will be transmitted by means of the belt or other drive, 6% to the pulley 61, and from the said pulley to the crank shaft, The rotation of this crank shaft will, through the crank pin, 58, and connecting rod, 57, cause the reciprocation of the slide, 54:, in its guide ways, 55, and the reciprocation of the said slide Will likewise cause the reciprocation of the piston rod, 43, and the piston 40, within the cylinder 22. The upward movement of the piston, 40, thus produced, will compress the refrigcrating gas within the cylinder, 22, until a certain predetermined pressure is reached whereupon the force of the spring, 30, will be overcome and the combined valve and cylinder head, 28,-will be forced from the valve seat, 29, thus permitting the escape of the compressed gas from the cylinder,

22, into the chamber 32.

Upon the down stroke of the piston, 40, the valve, 41, in its head, will open and gas which has filled the chamber, 70, and the interior of the said piston will pass through the said valve into the cylinder, 22. During the up and down stroke of the said piston, the ports or ducts, 68, have been closed by the walls of the said piston, but when the latter reaches its lowermost position, the said ducts or ports, 68, are opened and additional gas may flow from the chamber, 67, througl'i the said ports and into the cylinder 32.

From the chamber, 32, the compressed gas will pass through the passage, 33, to and through the pipe, 34, through the auxiliary condenser, 35, and by way of pipe, 36, to the upper portion of the chamber 12. The said gas will be subjected to the cooling action of the water flowing in the coil, 9, and will be condensed, falling to thelower most portion of the said chamber, 12, in the form of a liquid. The said liquid is then withdrawn through the pipe, 71, in the manner above disclosed and the cycle repeated indefinitely.

A suitable-relief or safety valve, 80, may he provided at the uppermost portion of the casing, 8, which may be opened from time to time to permit the escape of any foreign gases which may have collected.

If desired, the cooiing water, after passing through the coil 9, may be led from the pipe 11 to a water jacket 81, surrrounding the head of the compressor cylinder, whereby the latter may always be kept cool.

It will thus be seenthat this invention provides a relatively simple and compact means for compressing and condensing a refrigerating fluid, which operation is carried on continuously as the fluid is passed through the refrigerating coil and converted from its liquid form to its gaseous form, with the consequent extraction of heat from the refrigerator and its contents in the wellknown manner.

Furthermore the invention provides means for automatically controlling the amount of liquid which may be introduced into the system, thereby preventing the over-charge of the same. The compression mechanism is comparatively simpie and efficient in use, and owing to the peculiar construction of the lubrication system the mixture of the lubricating oil with the ammonia or other refrigerating fluid, is effectively prevented.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the construction,

as well as the arrangement of the parts,

without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure, except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of a closed chamber; means for admitting a refrigerating fluid to said chamber; means for automatically controlling the amount of fluid admitted to said chamber to prevent an over-charge; means for withdrawing said fluid from said chamher in a liquid form and ,suppl ing it to a refrigerating apparatus, whereby it may absorb heat and be converted into a gaseous form; power driven means for compressing said. gas; means for conducting said gasfrom said refrigeratingapparatus to said compressor and from said compressor back .to said chamber; and means for circulating a cooling mediuna within said chamber, ghiereby said gas may be cooled and lique- 2. In an apparatus of'the class described the combination of a closed chamber; means for admitting a refrigerating fluid to said chamber; means comprising an open ended pipe extending into said chamber, in communication with said admission';means, for automatically controiling the amount of fluid admitted to said chamber to prevent an over-charge; means for withdrawing said fluid from said chamber in a iiquid, form and supplying it to :1V refrigerating mppara'lzus, whereby 1t may absorb heat and be aonverted inta gaseous fax-mu; p wer drivean means for compressing; said gas; means for conducting said gas; from said refrigerating agppamtxrls to said FIIOZHPI'BSSOK mating a 0001i said chamber, whereby 0001251. and liqu-afiarl.

means compri a coii of pipe medium withln maid gas "may be In tesbimony whemof, 11 ME my signatm'e, 

